3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

The GE/Tungsram H11 glare cap is oddly deep.

 

@crashnburn80 What are your thoughts on PPF for the headlights? Since I now have the new OEM LED headlights, I was thinking of applying the extra XPEL paint protection on them.

 

Personally not a fan of any kind of film on the headlights. All films, even clear, will reduce output to some degree and reduce focus, which reduces output intensity. The films typically fail long before the headlights OEM UV coatings would, and then you have to remove the film and hope it doesn't damage the headlight. Then you see threads on asking how to clear the adhesive or residue left behind off the headlight, and in doing so you may remove or harm the UV stabilizing coating meant to prevent the headlights from fogging in the first place. Unless you are somewhere that gets crazy sun like Arizona, I'd just trust the OEM UV coating. If you wanted more protection, I'd look to topically applied UV stabilizing products that are not permanet. Obviously topically applied products only help with UV and not rock chips. However, significant rock chips should be pretty minimal on a polycarbonate lens, UV is far greater threat to polycarbonate.

 

Autogeek has some good products for that purpose. I used Optimum Opti-lens on my lights when they were new and my Lexus when I bought it new back in 16. It comes in a syringe type bottle and you apply it like a ceramic coating. They claim it’s permanent after cure and I believe it, the my IS is 4 years old now and the headlight surface is just as slick and clear as when I applied it. Not cheap at $70 but you can do 2 or 3 pairs of lights with it, my wife’s car got treated as well from the same bottle, a little goes a long way.

 

You earlier had made a post about the film not being optically clear and that prompted some reading of my own and I came to the same conclusions

The big area I saw the issue was on Porsche forums. Porsche specifically mentions to not put film on their lamps.

Seeing as the halogen Pro lamps have a tendency to lose their UV hardcoat early, I didn’t want to chance it. I’ve been doing Opti-Seal for now.

 

The OEM LED headlight has a very unique high beam compared to the OEM halogen or Morimoto LED units. Rather than focusing the light above the low beam cut off, there is very significant overlap of the high beam pattern with the low beam, it is aimed a lower than the stock halogen high beam. This should give exceptional down road visibility compared to the other options that just add uplight to the pattern. Still thinking about how to best present the data.

 

Throw some LEDs in that thing

 

Thank you for your input. I was worried, because I do have some rock chips on my original headlights and the OEM UV coating is actually already flaking on them, they are even ceramic coated with a bi-monthly maintenance wash. Is Opti-seal better?

We actually get quite a lot of sun here, with a UV index of 10+ all year long. It was 12 today, and 11 for the remainder of the week.

 

After having the lamps on my truck for two months I was finally out after dark in a dark area (thanks COVID and two small children) and really got to play around with them.

I have a KC 30” C-series bar under the grille and I found the high beams all but washed out the bar. With halogen lamps the bar would wash out the head lamps, low or high. They are simply that good.

Curious what the actual numbers show. We all appreciate the work, it’s unreal.

 

Question for you based on this. What would you do differently lighting-wise if you had started with the LED headlights? Just floods for camping while parked? Ditch lights only? Or bumper / grille / roof lighting still super helpful?

 

Oh man, fantastic question. I’d have the roof lights, no doubt because Marty McFly aesthetics.

I don’t know if I’d have the front bar. The high beams do the majority of that. I’d have to think long and hard. Any auxiliary lighting of specific areas like ditch lights, would still make sense.

Let me play around again on a dark night and I’ll confirm how good or bad they are.

 

Agree 100% - the Philips Xtreme Vision +100 are still by far my favorite halogen due to their color temp and wide field of view. I run them in both my lows and fogs and I've tried most of the other top performers on here and while I agree with peak intensity and distance there's always an element of "what looks right to your eyes" and these do the trick for me.

 

Agreed. The GE’s blast super bright straight down the road. But the Philips gives much better wide coverage. And on a dark Hiway, it’s overall more useful to me and my eyes.

 

UV index of 10+ all year is surely brutal. I've honestly not experimented much with the applied UV coatings to give a review on which products are better. But I'd much rather apply a maintenance product like waxing the truck, that just wears off and needs periodic reapplying rather than something relatively permanet that will likely fail earlier than the OEM coating and the removal may damage the headlight and cause other issues. I hand wax my truck twice a year, in spring and fall. I'd just add headlight coating to that exterior maintenance interval.

 

Thank you,
I guess I'll just apply a thicker coating on the headlights then.
Wish I had a garage, so this wouldn't be too much of a problem. Doesn't help that my apartment parking doesn't have a lot of shade.

Do the tail lights also have a UV coating? They do not seem to fade as fast a headlights.

 

That's exactly how it works....when you don't do your research first before buying them and then taking care to properly install and align them.

 

Parking under a cover in the shade would definitely be the most ideal defense. Taillights are commonly made of acrylic which is far more resistant to UV and doesn't need a coating, unlike the polycarbonate the headlights are made from. Though in the case of the 3rd gen Tacoma they may be polycarbonate, if so they would also have a coating. If they have a clear outer plastic layer (like 2nd Gen), it is likely polycarbonate. If the outer plastic is colored, it will be acrylic. I haven't paid close attention to the 3rd Gen tails.

 

Interesting info to know. Didn't know they would be made out of different materials. Is there a reason why? Lens clarity?

 

Polycarbonate has significantly greater impact resistance. I'd actually withdraw my polycarbonate statement for the taillights (I started to 2nd guess myself) even with a clear layer they are likely acrylic. Acrylic can be optically clear, it just doesn't do as well with impact resistance which isn't typically an issue on the back of a vehicle.